Apocalyptic Love
by Butterfly553
Summary: Was Wrath of the Apocalypse, my best friend came up with the name, but I have decided to change it. Three teenage girls have survived the zombie apocalypse together. When Warren and the others find them, could all the surviving the girls did come to an end? Will the three end up causing more damage than help? Will anyone get out of this alive?
1. Meeting

Meeting

Three teenage girls were in a difficult situation. Well, everyone is in a difficult situation with the zombie apocalypse going on, but these three are in a particularly more difficult one. The three girls are: Arcadia, age 18, has brown/blonde/red hair just below her shoulders. She wears a black tank top, blue jeans, black shoes and a black jacket; Eclipse, age 19, has dyed pink hair down to her butt, natural blonde coming in a the roots. She wears a black shirt, silver-ish jeans, black shoes and a black hoodie; Ivony, age 19, has brown hair above her shoulders. She wore a brown jacket, blue t-shirt and blue jeans with white shoes. The three of them were stuck on top of a semi-truck trailer. They had no way to escape all of the Zs that were surrounding them. The girls had weapons, but all of them were out of ammo. One gun, a dark pink camo sniper rifle, still had ammo, but it was somewhere in the swarm of Zs. Ivony had dropped Arcadia's sniper rifle as she was running to the trailer. No one was happy about that, which caused tension to build on the already tense situation.

"I cannot believe you dropped it." Arcadia told Ivony as calmly as possible. It was difficult because Arcadia was furious with Ivony. The three girls were used to that though. Arcadia and Ivony never got along. The three of them have been friends since long before the world went to shit.

"It was an accident! If you want the gun so bad, then go and get it!" Ivony snapped back. Arcadia turned and glared at Ivony.

"You're the one that dropped it. You should go and get it." Arcadia smirked at the glare that Ivony sent to her. Eclipse just sat and watched the two argue. The two were standing and pacing around as they argued back and forth. Neither of the girls was paying attention to their surroundings, so only Eclipse saw that in the distance, a truck was coming their way.

"Hey!" Eclipse said loudly, making both other girls jump a bit. Eclipse pointed out towards the truck that was coming. "Shut up and look."

"People?" Arcadia questioned, trying to see. She wore glasses and had a bad time seeing very far.

"People in a truck." Ivony clarified. The two's argument was long forgotten now. The three girls watched as the truck got closer. Eclipse and Ivony were yelling and waving their arms. Arcadia just sat down and watched. Thankfully for the girls, the people in the truck saw the two yelling girls. The truck stopped at a safe distance and six people got out; two girls, three guys and one guy that was told to go back into the truck. The group of five got a little closer and the dark skinned woman, who was most likely in charge, spoke up.

"Do you girls need some help?" The woman said to the girls. She was loud enough for them to hear, but it didn't draw much attention from the Zs.

"No, we were just planning on staying up here and dying." Arcadia said with her voice full of attitude as she rolled her eyes. Ivony and Eclipse glared at Arcadia.

"We'd like some help." Ivony said as nicely as possible.

"Just watch out. My rifle is somewhere in the Zs, and if it already isn't broken, then I'd like you people to not step on it." Arcadia said, still with that attitude in her voice. She got another glare from her friends.

"Alright." The woman told her group something and then they went to work. The five of them gave the Zs mercy. They all seemed to work together. It made the three girls jealous a bit. They could never get along long enough to work together like that. It's exactly how they ended up in the situation they are in now. The three girls watched in awe as the five people gave all the Zs mercy in just a few minutes. There were only a few left when Arcadia jumped down from the trailer. Arcadia went right to her rifle, which was in the possession of a boy that looked the girls' age. He handed her the rifle, and she smiled at him. Arcadia was clearly happy to have her gun back, and see that it wasn't damaged at all.

"Thank you." She told the guy, before returning to her group. She watched the two get down off the trailer with the rest of their stuff.

"Thank you all. I thought we were going to die up there." Eclipse said to the woman in charge. She was trying to be polite, which was odd for her in a way.

"I thought we were going to have to sacrifice Ivony to escape." Arcadia said casually. Ivony glared at Arcadia, which just shrugged it off. Eclipse sighed and rolled her eyes at the comment. She knew that Arcadia was dead serious though. "So who are you people anyway?"

"I'm Roberta Warren." The woman in charge said. She went down the line of her group. The man that was older than everyone else, with facial hair was first. "That's Doc." The boy the girls' age was after Doc. "That's 10K." The red head girl and blonde-ish boy were after 10K. "That's Addy, and Mack." Then the woman pointed to the truck in the background. "The one in the truck is Murphy." She finished off. The girls processed all the peoples' names.

"I'm Eclipse, she's Ivony and she-" Eclipse was cut off by Ivony.

"And the bitch with the rifle is Arcadia." Ivony finished. She had obvious hate towards Arcadia and it showed by the tone of her voice. Arcadia just smiled and shook her head. She didn't really care about what Ivony said about her.

"Well, you three look a little young to be out here by yourselves. Would you like to come with us?"

"Sure." Ivony said, but wasn't heard over Arcadia's response.

"We're doing just fine alone." Arcadia snapped. She clearly didn't want any part in a group.

"Arc, we might as well join." Eclipse told her friend. Arcadia looked down at the ground and mumbled an answer. "We'll happily join."

"By the way, we have a car of our own." Ivony spoke up.

"I have a car. You two just get to ride in it." Arcadia corrected, annoyed with Ivony.

"Yeah Ivony. So Arc, where's the car?" Eclipse questioned. Arcadia looked around and turned towards the empty roads. She was silent for a moment as she looked to see if she could see anything.

"Where did I park the car?" Arcadia responded. The two other girls turned to Arcadia shocked as their new group watched.

"You lost the car?" Ivony questioned. Arcadia turned back towards everyone.

"No, I just don't know where it is right now." She shrugged like it wasn't anything new. Which it wasn't. Arcadia has a bad habit of losing things, from guns to cars, she can potentially lose anything.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

"Have you guys seen a lime green Plymouth Roadrunner around here at all?" Arcadia asked the group. All of them shook their heads. "Oh damn…"

"How can you lose a car?" Ivony yelled.

"Well it's actually pretty easy."

"You bitch…" The two began to argue, again. Arcadia made sarcastic remarks and Ivony made rude ones. Finally Arcadia spun around and began to walk away. "Where the hell are you going?"

"To find the car!" She didn't even turn to them when she spoke. Ivony rolled her eyes and turned away from Arcadia. Their new group watched, confused.

"The two of them argue all of the time. It's totally normal." Eclipse told the five people.

"She went off on her own though." Addy said, concerned.

"Yeah she does that a lot. She can handle herself just fine. You don't have to worry about her."

"Alright. Well let's get back to the truck to wait." Warren told everyone. The group headed to the truck to wait for Arcadia to return. Everyone seemed okay with the three new additions to the group. Well except for Murphy, but he's never okay with anyone joining the group.


	2. Talking

Talking

As they waited for Arcadia, the group talked. It was odd for them to just sit and talk, but Eclipse wouldn't go anywhere until Arcadia returned.

"So, if you all want to come back to where we sort of live now, everyone could get some food and water." Eclipse told everyone. "We also have some extra gas."

"Thank you, I think we will take you up on your offer." Warren told the pink haired girl.

"Is Arc even going to come back?" Ivony questioned, clearly wanting the answer to be no.

"She hopefully will…" Eclipse mumbled. She wasn't so sure since Arcadia never really cared to be around new people. Thankfully though, Arcadia's car was seen coming towards them.

"About time…" Ivony growled. Arcadia stopped the car near the rest of the group, but didn't get out.

"We'll lead you to where we currently live. Just follow us." Eclipse told the others as her and Ivony got into the car.

"Try to keep up." Ivony mumbled as she closed the back seat passenger side door.

"Alright. Let's go everybody!" warren told her group. Everyone got in their places, and began to drive. Arcadia drove fast, but was sure to keep an eye on the black truck following her. Arcadia would swerve to miss hitting the Zs. While warren just plowed right into them. It made Eclipse and Arcadia laugh.

It didn't take too long to get to where the girls "hideout" was. Once there, everyone got out of the car and truck. Arcadia walked over to the door to an apartment building. She pulled out a key and unlocked the door. She kept her rifle pointed forward while she walked to the stairs. The three girls led everyone up to the top floor, which was the third floor.

"This is the only 100% safe floor. We have cleaned out a few of the apartments, but there are a lot of dead bodies up here. We tried to clear out some of the other floors, but there are way too many Zs for us three. So don't go down any floors, but the roof is fine, just in case you care." Eclipse explained as they walked through the apartment building.

"Where's the food? I'm hungry." The man known as Murphy questioned, sounding annoyed.

"In here." Arcadia responded, opening a door. Sure enough, there was an apartment that held the food and water in it. Murphy walked right in, bumping Arcadia out of the way. She glared at the man, she didn't like being touched.

"Sorry about him. He's… well he's Murphy." Doc said to the now angry girl.

"Okay then…" Arcadia mumbled as she went and got an apple and a small bottle of water.

"What are you doing Arc?" Eclipse questioned as she watched her friends. The rest of the people were coming into the room now as well.

"I'm going to eat on the roof." With that, Arcadia disappeared out the door. She had an apple, water and her rifle with her.

"She's going off alone again?" Addy questioned, again.

"She's not a people person." Ivony said walking past the red head. 10K grabbed an apple and a small bottle of water, and then like Arcadia, he disappeared to go to the roof.

"Where's he going alone?" Eclipse questioned.

"He does that a lot too. The kid will be fine on his own." Doc told Eclipse. She nodded her head and followed the rest to get some food.

Arcadia set up her sniper rifle on the roof where she could sit comfortably as she ate. As she took a bite of her apple, she heard the door to the roof open. She turned and chewed her food as she saw who it was. Once she swallowed the apple piece, she spoke.

"Hi." Arcadia told 10K quietly. He had the same things she had.

"Hi." He responded walking over to Arcadia. He set up his rifle close to her as well. Arcadia turned her attention to her rifle and looked through the scope. She shot a Z perfectly in the head. 10K did the same, but then mumbled, "1,483." The two continued shooting Zs and 10K stopped at 1,490 before Arcadia decided to speak again.

"So, why is your name 10K?" Arcadia questioned, very curious about it.

"It is how many Zs I'm going to kill." 10K responded simply.

"Wow, that's a lot of zombies. Hope you don't get eaten before it happens." Arcadia said harshly, she then noticed how 10K's eyebrows slightly lifted as he paused pulling the trigger to look over at her. She instantly felt bad that she said it like that. "Sorry, I meant good luck…"

"Thanks." The two sat in silence as they shot Zs, well 10K would say the number he was on then. Arcadia was amazed by how many perfect shots that 10K could do. She was pretty good herself, but he was just a little better. She realized she was staring at him, and unfortunately for her, he noticed as well. Arcadia and 10K's eyes met, for a moment, before she looked away and went back to shooting.

The two shot the rest of the day. They were in silence other than 10K's count. It wasn't awkward or anything. Arcadia was glad she was getting some quiet time with someone who wasn't loud and annoying. Once it began to get dark, Arcadia sat up. 10K pulled his trigger one more time, then sat up and turned to Arcadia.

"1, 513." 10K said, looking proud of himself. Arcadia smiled at him.

"Come on, we should get back before they come up here for us." Arcadia said quietly. 10K nodded his head. The two gathered what they had brought and headed back to the rest of the group.

"About time you two get back. I was about to come up there and find you." Eclipse said when the two entered the room. For the zombie apocalypse going on outside, the group of people looked pretty normal, like it was just another normal pre-zombie day. Addy and Mack were on the couch talking, Doc and Murphy were playing a card game, and Ivony, Eclipse and Warren were around another table talking.

"We have to talk about sleeping arrangements." Ivony said, annoyed with Arcadia already.

"We have 4 clear rooms, and then this room. What's the problem?" Arcadia questioned as she went to the girls.

"There are nine of us. That's the problem Arc."

"So? How is this problem my problem?" She sat down and watched 10K go over to the two men playing cards.

"Because it is." Ivony snapped.

"I was thinking that Addy and Mack could get a room." Warren said to the three teens. They nodded their head in agreement. The couple should definitely get a room to do things couples do.

"I'm getting a room as well!" Murphy yelled over his shoulder.

"Why?" Ivony snapped. Arcadia smiled, she was glad someone else was getting snapped at, not just her.

"I'm special." Murphy's voice was full of arrogance. It made the three teens want to punch him. They didn't like that type of person, and they were so confused to why the hell this man was so special.

"Whatever." Ivony grumbled as she rolled her eyes.

"Warren you should get a room as well and…" Arcadia said quietly.

"Doc should too. Us teens can sleep out here." Eclipse said, finishing Arcadia's sentence for her.

"A room full of teenagers, what would possibly go wrong?" Ivony said, making Eclipse and Arcadia chuckle.

"Well, it's decided then." Warren told the girls goodnight and told the rest of the group their sleeping arrangements before going to find a room for herself. Mack and Addy went to find their room, laughing and being all touchy the whole way out of the room. Doc and Murphy went to go find their rooms after they finished their card game; Murphy won the game. Before Murphy left the room completely, he turned to the teens.

"You kids better not do anything I wouldn't do." Murphy said, chuckling as he left.

"I have a feeling that we wouldn't ever want to do anything he does…" Arcadia mumbled, a little freaked out.

"He's creepy, are you sure we should be sleeping with him in the same area as us?" Ivony mumbled to Arcadia. Arcadia shrugged, and then turned to her two friends. She realized that Ivony and Eclipse were glaring at each other.

"I'm not sleeping on the floor." Ivony told the pink haired girl.

"Well I sure as hell am not either." Eclipse responded. The two looked about ready to murder each other over who gets to sleep on the couch in the room.

"I'm good on the floor." Arcadia chimed in, getting two glared from her friends. She smiled at them and got up. She didn't care where she slept as long as she woke up the next morning alive. While the other two girls began to quietly argue, Arcadia walked over to a spot on the floor where there was blankets folded and pillows on top. It was getting a bit chilly, and she wasn't about to freeze during the night. She grabbed a pillow and a blanket and then turned around.

"There are only three blankets." 10K said, making Arcadia jump. She didn't realize 10K had walked up behind her and was so close to her now.

"Yeah, I guess you and I will have to share since neither of them would even think about sharing with someone else." Arcadia informed 10K, a little unsure about how he'd react. He just nodded his head. Arcadia then was suddenly wondering about one thing. He does look her age, but is he? "How old are you anyway?"

"18."

"Alright then. Well come on. Pick a spot and lay down." 10K did exactly that. He found a spot on the floor and laid down. He used his bag as a pillow and faced to his right, away from where Arcadia was now laying down. She used the pillow she had, and faced away from him. They were close together, but not touching at all. Both teens pulled up the blanket and tried to get comfortable on the floor. Ivony and Eclipse eventually stopped arguing. Eclipse won, she got the couch and Ivony got a somewhat comfy chair. Everyone was in their place to go to sleep, or other things, and they all shared the same thought; they needed to get a good night's rest. They would need it for the adventure that would be starting again tomorrow.


	3. Arguing

Arguing

When morning came, warren woke up first. She left her room and knocked on Doc's room first, then Murphy's and then Addy and Mack's room. Once she woke up the adults, she went out to the room all of the teens were in.

"Well that wasn't expected." Warren told herself as she saw how 10K and Arcadia were sleeping. They were facing each other. She was clinging to his shirt with one hand and the other was around his waist. His arms were both around her. One hand was at her waist and the other was under her head being used as a pillow. They were both sleeping, and clearly neither of them knew what position they were in. "Alright children, time to get up!" Warren called into the room. Ivony was startled out of the chair and hit the ground hard. Eclipse sat straight up, startled so bad she had her battle axe out. 10K and Arcadia opened their eyes at the same time. She shrieked, pulled away and crawled away from 10K. He just laid there, too shocked to move.

"Wow…" Ivony said, shaking her head over how the two had slept.

"Well that happened." Eclipse said, chuckling.

"What'd we miss?" Doc asked, walking into the room with Addy, Mack and Murphy following behind him.

"Turns out 10K and Arcadia like to sleep cuddle." Eclipse replied, smiling over the situation.

"That was messed up…" Arcadia mumbled, getting up off the floor.

"Arcadia I'm s-" 10K started, wanting to apologize. Arcadia just shook her head.

"Nope, don't wanna hear it. I'm going to pretend that never happened." Arcadia grabbed her rifle and walked away.

"Come on kid; let's go put gas in the truck." Doc told 10K. He nodded his head and got up. He grabbed his rifle and began to leave.

"Hey, can you guys fill up our car too?" Ivony called to the two guys.

"Sure." With that, Doc and 10K left to put gas in both the truck and car. Once they were done, everyone began to eat and drink. Well everyone except Arcadia. She decided to start packing her things. She got a duffle bag and began to put things into it; three katana swords, two daggers and six knives.

"Why bring those?" Ivony questioned, watching Arcadia pack. "You'll die long before you can use them. Besides, you don't really have the physical strength to use them." Arcadia sighed and looked up at the girl.

"You're a bitch." Arcadia smiled sweetly as Ivony glared at her.

"And I'll watched and laugh as you die when you try to use those." Arcadia stood up and glared at Ivony.

"Oh no…" Eclipse muttered. "They are at it again…"

"Keep talking Ivony, and I will put a bullet through your brain. No actually I won't. You don't deserve to be given mercy." Arcadia said, raising her voice.

"Burn in hell!" Ivony growled, raising her voice as well.

"I plan on it, just not today!" Arcadia growled back. The two were about to attack each other when Warren stepped in.

"Okay you two, break it up." Warren told the girls, pulling Arcadia away from Ivony.

"Come on Warren, I haven't seen a cat fight in years!" Murphy complained, clearly wanting the two girls to tear out each other's hair.

"Ivony, Eclipse, get to packing your stuff. Arcadia, I need a word with you."

"Fine." Arcadia let herself get pulled through the doorway, just as Doc and 10K entered it. The two guys had heard the conflict, but didn't think it'd be a good idea to get involved with two fighting girls. Warren pulled Arcadia down the hall out of hearing range.

"Can you and Ivony get along for a few hours? Or will every time you two try to kill each other every time you are near each other?"

"If I have to be around her longer than five minutes, I will shoot her."

"So being in a car with her is out?"

"Hell yes."

"Then Doc and 10K will ride with you in your car, with you and Eclipse. Everyone else will be in the truck, including Ivony." Warren said in a manner that told Arcadia to not argue.

"Alright."

"I'll go and tell everyone. You go and finish packing, without any more fights."

"Yes ma'am." Arcadia grumbled. The two returned and went about their duties. After another hour, everyone had eaten, drank, used the bathroom and packed up. All nine of them were outside heading to their vehicles.

"Hey Doc, do you want to drive?" Arcadia questioned, not wanting to drive.

"Sure." Doc replied as he got into the driver side door. Eclipse got into the passenger side door, 10K got into the seat behind Doc and Arcadia got in behind Eclipse. Warren drove the truck in front of the car. They have been driving in silence for a while, until Doc decided to break the silence. "So, what are your stories? Have you lost any loved ones?"

"I don't want to talk about my past." Arcadia mumbled, staring out of her window. 10K saw how she held her rifle a bit tighter.

"Well, I lost pretty much everyone I once knew; my mother, grandmother, my pets and almost all my friends. The only people I have left are Ivony and Arcadia. I've known Arcadia since I was 5 and I've known Ivony since a few years after that." Eclipse explained. She always has been more open about talking about her past. "I had to give my family mercy. They were the first people I had to kill."

"I'm sorry kid. That must have been hard."

"It was…still is…" Eclipse turned and looked out her window. Arcadia could see that it still bothered her.

"Wow…" Doc was silent for a little while, before talking again. "So Arcadia, why all of the swords and daggers?"

"Well, I'm more of a sharp object girl, rather than a gun girl." Arcadia explained, still looking out the window.

"Why do you have that sniper rifle then?" 10K questioned, curious about it. Arcadia turned and looked at him. She stared at him for a minute before turning back to the window.

"We had a fourth member of our little group. This gun was hers. When she…was dying, she told me that she wanted me to have it." 10K and Doc could see the pain on her face, and hear it in her voice.

"So your friend died? Was she bitten?"

"She was killed, well murdered really." Arcadia told 10K. "Ivony purposefully caused Nova's death. It's a huge reason why Ivony and I fight all the time. It's not like we ever really got along in the first place though."

"Why would she do that?" Doc questioned, stunned by what Arcadia had said.

"Because Nova and I were going to leave. We were going to pack up our weapons and take my car, and go. Without Ivony and Eclipse. Clearly, Ivony didn't like that."

"That explains why you two don't get along." Doc said.

"Yeah." Arcadia looked at 10K quickly to see if he was looking at her, and he was. She quickly looked away, back out to the window. The rest of the drive was filled with Eclipse talking about her weapons. She mainly spoke about her battle axe. She adores that thing. Arcadia was sure 10K wanted to shoot himself, or Eclipse after the first hour of her talking. She couldn't help but chuckle at her thought, which made 10K look at her again. After hours of driving, it began to get dark. Warren eventually stopped the truck, so Doc stopped the car. Everyone got out of the car and truck to hear what Warren had to say.

"Alright, we are going to spend the night here." Warren announced. Ivony instantly made her way to Eclipse and Arcadia. She pulled the two away and told them what she found out on the ride.

"So that asshole is the savoir of humanity?" Arcadia questioned, not really believing.

"Wow, he's the cure?" Eclipse mumbled.

"Yeah." Ivony said, nodding.

"I didn't see that one coming." Arcadia said, walking away. "Well I'm going to go shoot stuff now." She turned to see10K shooting Zs, so she grabbed her rifle and joined him. "What number are you on?" Arcadia questioned 10K as she set up her rifle.

"1,834…" He shot another Z. "1,835." 10K corrected smirking.

"Wow." Arcadia and 10K went into silence as they shot Zs. They didn't realize that Doc and Eclipse were close by, watching them.

"10K is good, but I think Arc is better." Eclipse told the older man. He chuckled and shook his head.

"The kid is an amazing shot. He rarely misses." Doc responded.

"Well maybe we should have them go against each other."

"What do you mean? Like have them have a shooting match?"

"Yup, tomorrow morning."

"Alright. Hey kid, Arcadia!" Both teens turned around. "Tomorrow you two are going to have a shooting contest to test which one of you is the better shot."

"Okay." 10K responded, totally fine with that.

"Whatever." Arcadia shrugged, not really caring all that much.

"1,840." 10K said finally, as he finished up his nightly Z kill. Arcadia watched the confident smirk on his face. It made her worry about tomorrow. She has always been bad with losing, and she had a feeling that's what she would be doing.


	4. 10K and Arcadia

10K and Arcadia

Warren woke up first again, so she decided to wake everyone else up.

"Come on kids wake up!" warren called out. Arcadia, Ivony and Eclipse were in Arcadia's car. The rest were in or on the truck.

"10K, Arcadia get ready." Doc told the teens when he fully woke up.

"We still have to do that? Can't I sleep longer?" Arcadia complained as she opened her door and fell out of the car.

"You want to forfeit and let the kid win?" Doc questioned. Arcadia looked over and saw the smirk on 10K's face. She instantly got up and grabbed her rifle.

"Not a chance in hell."

"10K verses Arcadia in a shooting contest, who do you think will win?" Eclipse asked Addy. The red head shrugged. Doc and Mack set up an area where 1K and Arcadia could shoot. Once the area was ready, 10K and Arcadia walked over to it.

"Hey 10K?" Arcadia said, getting the teens attention. He turned to her.

"What?" He responded, but was answered by an action instead of words. Arcadia leaned over to him and kissed his cheek.

"Good luck." Arcadia smirked at the blush on his cheeks. She got down and began to prepare her rifle. After a moment of shock, 10K began doing the same.

"I didn't see that one coming…" Ivony told Eclipse. Eclipse nodded her head.

"Seems like we'll be saying that a lot while with this group." Eclipse responded. It was Ivony's turn to nod her head now. Once the two teens were ready, Doc walked over to them.

"You kids ready?" Doc questioned.

"Just what exactly are we doing?" Arcadia asked, curious and slightly confused.

"For one minute, you two will shoot at the zombies. You have to shoot as many as possible, only once. They have to be perfect headshots." Eclipse explained. She and Doc had talked about it more before they had gone to bed.

"I will keep count for 10K and Eclipse will keep count for Arcadia." Doc finished explaining. Both teens nodded their heads.

"How will you time us though?" Arcadia questioned, very confused. Eclipse held up a phone. More specifically Arcadia's old phone. "Oh, well that's a good idea."

"Where'd you get a phone at?" 10K asked, curious.

"It's Arc's. We keep it charged by using her car charger. We use it for music and pictures. It also has a timer and stuff." Eclipse explained.

"Well alright then." Doc said. "You kids ready?"

"Yes." Both 10K and Arcadia responded. They got to their guns and got ready to start shooting.

"Alright. Start." Doc told the two. There were quite a few Zs out in front of them. The two teens began shooting. Zs after Zs fell to the ground. Doc and Eclipse were keeping count in their heads. The others just watched as 10K and Arcadia shot quite a few Zs. A minute later, the phone's timer went off. The two teens shot their last Zs. The two dead Zs fell to the dirt with a thump.

"So?" Arcadia questioned, turning around. 10K turned around next. He also clearly wanted to know the score.

"Arcadia shot 24 Zs perfectly in the head." Eclipse said, happily. She was hopeful and had a feeling that Arcadia won.

"The kid got one less. He shot 23." Doc said, a little sad about it. 10K honestly didn't look very sad.

"Wow really?" Arcadia questioned, not really believing that. She smiled brightly, which caused 10K to smile as well. Though he hid his smile by covering his mouth.

"Yeah. That's awesome Arc." Ivony said, even though it didn't really seem like she meant it.

"Alright. The game is over, so let's get on the road." Warren called out to everyone. As Arcadia and the other two girls walked off, Doc went over to 10K.

"What was that about kid?" Doc questioned the teen.

"What do you mean?" 10K asked back, as he picked up his rifle.

"I saw you look over at her. It made you miss a shot."

"You saw that?" 10K slightly blushed again.

"Yeah kid, care to explain?" 10K opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped by Arcadia.

"Come on boys! I'll leave without you!" Arcadia yelled from the driver seat of her car. Everyone else was nearly ready to go. Doc didn't question 10K any further. He had seen the smile on Arcadia's face like 10K did. He saw how 10K smiled back, but hid it from everyone. 10K clearly was alright with losing to Arcadia in the shooting contest.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Eclipse yelled from the seat behind Arcadia.

"Yeah, hold on!" Doc yelled back. "Come on kid, sit up front." Doc and 10K got into the car. 10K sat in the passenger seat and Doc say behind him.

"Let's go!" Warren yelled as she began to drive the truck. Arcadia began to follow Warren with her car. She drove as fast as she possibly could while staying behind Warren. It honestly worried both boys who weren't used to her fast driving. The two drivers drove for a while, until the car began to choke.

"No…No...This can't be happening!" Arcadia yelled as her car died. Thankfully someone in the truck noticed, so Warren stopped the truck.

"Did your car just die?" Eclipse asked, but already knew the answer. Arcadia put the car in park, and put her head on the steering wheel. Doc and 10K gathered their stuff and got out. Eclipse did the same but she didn't go to the truck like the guys did.

"Son of a bitch…" Arcadia mumbled to herself. She still hadn't moved at all.

"Arc, come on. We have to go." Eclipse told her upset friend. In the truck, Ivony noticed what was going on, so she got out and went over to her friends.

"What the hell is going on? Let's go!" Ivony yelled, angry for some reason.

"I'm not going without my car." Arcadia said, not looking up. It could be heard in her voice that she was close to crying. The three girls began to argue quietly so that no one can hear them.

"Forget this!" Ivony suddenly snapped. She walked to the trunk and got Arcadia's two bags. She took them to the truck, and got in with them.

"Let it go Arc. You can't hold onto it forever." Eclipse told her friend harshly. She went to the truck with her bags, leaving Arcadia all alone.

"Let's just leave her!" Murphy yelled from the truck.

"We aren't leaving her." Warren snapped at Murphy.

"10K, go talk to her." Doc told the teen. He nodded his head and walked to Arcadia.

"Arcadia?" 10K asked, as he opened the driver door. Arcadia turned her head away from him.

"Leave me alone." She whispered.

"No, not until you tell me why you won't leave the car." 10K crouched on the ground next to the open car door.

"This is special to me. How can I just leave it?" Arcadia turned to 10K. He could now see that she had been crying.

"If you stay, you will die. Please Arcadia, come with us." Arcadia turned to everyone else, then back to 10K. She saw the look in his eyes. He wanted her to come with them.

"Fine…just let me gather some things." Arcadia sighed. 10K nodded his head and headed back to the truck. He told the others that Arcadia was coming, so they wouldn't leave without her. In the car, Arcadia opened the glovebox. She pulled out a locket and a few pictures before walking away from her car. She paused before getting in the truck though. She looked back at her car one last time. Once she got into the truck, Addy noticed what Arcadia held.

"What's up with the locket and the pictures?" Addy questioned. Arcadia ignored the woman, and stuffed the locket and pictures into one of her bags. Arcadia sat next to 10K, which watched the girl closely. He was feeling something for Arcadia. He just wasn't sure what it meant yet. Arcadia was clinging to her rifle as the truck began to move. She was also feeling things for 10K. She also wasn't sure what I meant yet.


	5. Losses

Losses

Warren drove the truck for hours. No one spoke at all, but 10K and Arcadia exchanged a few looks that did speak quite a bit. When the truck stopped it was in front of a creepy run down mall.

"What are we doing here?" Murphy complained from the front seat.

"There is a pharmacy and gun shop inside the mall. We are low on both medical supplies and ammo." Warren explained as she got out of the truck. "10K and Arcadia stay here and watch the truck, and Murphy."

"Maybe look around and check the cars for any gas, since we'll be needing some more soon." Doc suggested. Everyone except the three staying got out of the truck.

"Be careful Eclipse." Arcadia said to her friend. Eclipse laughed and shook her head.

"I'm always careful. You should be the careful one." Eclipse called back to her friend. The six people walked inside of the creepy mall. Pieces of the ceiling fell in, paint was peeling off the walls and glass was shattered everywhere. Dead bodies were on the floors and blood was splattered all over the place. It was a hideous scene to walk in two.

"Alright, Mack, Addy and Eclipse. You guys go find the fun shop and take anything you can. Doc, Ivony and I will go find the pharmacy." Warren told everyone.

"Alright." Everyone agreed and went to the mall map that still stood near the entrance. The two groups looked over where their destinations were. Addy pulled out her Z Whacker, Mack pulled out his gun and Eclipse held onto her battle axe tighter. Warren got out her gun, Doc held his crowbar tighter and Ivony did the same with her machete. Mack, Addy and Eclipse and Warren, Doc, and Ivony went in opposite directions. After a few moments, the two groups lost sight of each other. Mack, Addy and Eclipse slowly made their way to the gun shop. They didn't see a single Z along the way, and it didn't make them feel any safer. If anything they felt like something bad was going to happen.

"Alright, let's get the ammo quickly and then get out of here." Mack told the girls. Both girls nodded their heads and were on guard. The three of them walked into the shop quietly. They found a duffle bag and where the ammo was. The two girls began to put the ammo into the bag. It looked like no one even tried to steal the ammo, which was odd. While the girls gathered ammo, Mack had walked out of the shop to look around the area quickly. When he found nothing, he went back to the door to the shop. "You two done yet? I'm getting a bad feeling." Mack whispered to the girls.

"Yeah, we're done." Eclipse replied. She put the last of the ammo in the bag and gave the bag to Addy. Mack walked out of the shop, and went a few feet away. Suddenly, out of the shop next to the gun shop, a hoard of Zs busted through the door. They all tackled Mack. Addy and Eclipse heard Mack yelling out, so they ran out of the room. As Mack hit the ground, his gun went off and the bullet went perfectly into Eclipse's right ankle.

"Mack!" Addy yelled out. Mack stood no chance against the hoard. He was on the ground yelling out as the Zs bit into him and tore his flesh. He was dead and turned within a minute.

"Fuck!" Eclipse yelled out as she collapsed to the ground. When Mack had hit the ground, his gun went off and the bullet went into Eclipse's ankle, shattering it instantly. Addy was nearly in tears over Mack, as she turned to Eclipse.

"Come on, we have to go!" Addy yelled as she tried to help the injured girl up. Eclipse knocked Addy backwards.

"No Addy! Just leave me!" Eclipse yelled as she pulled out a gun and began to shoot at the Zs that were interested in them.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Addy argued. She just lost one group member and she didn't want to lost another.

"Go Addy!" Eclipse yelled at her. Addy nodded her head. She pulled out her gun to give Mack mercy, and then took off running with the duffle bag of ammo. As Addy ran, she heard gun shots for a few moments, and then nothing. She didn't even hear any sounds of anyone being eaten.

Warren, Doc and Ivony made their way to the pharmacy. They were moving quickly and silently while hey held their weapons, ready to attack if necessary.

"You got to make this quick Doc." Warren told the man.

"Ivony come over here." Doc told Ivony the pill bottles to gather the type of pulls he wanted. The two went to work collecting the pills. Once they were done, they gathered some medical supplies, like band aids, bottles of antiseptic and anything else they could need.

"Do you hear that?" Ivony suddenly asked. She was hearing a scratching noise through a door within the pharmacy.

"Just ignore it and let's go." Warren told the girl. The girl ignored her though. She walked to the door and opened it. Instantly, a hoard of Zs came out of the room. They knocked Ivony over and began to bite her. She screamed out in pain and screamed for Doc and Warren to help her.

"Warren!" Doc called, worried and unsure of what to do. He watched Ivony and was conflicted with the situation.

"Go Doc, I got this." Warren motioned for him to go, so he did. All Warren could do now was give Ivony mercy. So she did. She felt bad that she had to do it, but it was the right thing to do. By now, Warren was hearing gun fire in another area of the mall. "Come on Doc! We got to get to Addy and the others and then get the hell out of here!" Warren and Doc ran out of the pharmacy with the bag of medical supplies. They had no clue that three of their group members lost their lives, not just Ivony.


	6. Past

Past

Once Warren, Doc, Addy, Mack, Eclipse and Ivony went inside the mall, 10K and Arcadia decided to get out of the back of the truck. 10K jumped down first and then helped Arcadia get down safely.

"Thanks." Arcadia smiled at 10K before turning to Murphy. "Stay in the truck. We'll look around the cars and check for gas or anything useful." Arcadia explained to Murphy.

"Well don't come crying to me when you two get your faces eaten off." Murphy grumbled as a response. Arcadia rolled her eyes. 10K got the gas can and the tube to get the gas, if they find some.

"Let's go over there." 10K told Arcadia, pointing towards a spot away from Murphy. Only Arcadia had a gun, since 10K was going to deal with the gas. So Arcadia nodded her head, grabbed her gun and then followed him to the area.

"So, Doc questioned me about my past, even though I didn't admit much of anything. Now I gotta ask, what about you 10K? What's your apocalypse story?" Arcadia questioned as 10K checked the first car for gas. He was quite for a moment, clearly thinking about what to say and if he should talk about it or not.

"My first kill, it was the thing my father became." 10K quietly said.

"You had to give your own father mercy?" Arcadia was shocked and sad for her friend. She could tell that he didn't want to talk about it much, and with what he said next confirmed what she thought.

"What about you?" 10K questioned, wanting to clearly talk about something else that didn't involve him.

"My past is just a long list of despair. It would take some time to explain and you probably wouldn't really want to hear it anyway." Arcadia replied as they moved to another car since the first one had no gas. 10K crouched down and opened the gas cap to put the tube into it.

"We have time." 10K looked up at Arcadia as she stood next to him. "And I would like to hear about it." Arcadia looked into his eyes and then nodded her head.

"My story starts before the apocalypse. One year before it all happened, I was…assaulted and it resulted in my having a child." 10K looked up at Arcadia, shock written on his face. Arcadia was leaning against the car looking off into the distance. "For the first few months, my family and friends helped turn my childhood home into a zombie free compound. Eclipse's family was there and so was Ivony's. Of course my family was there as well. For the first year, we all enjoyed a peaceful apocalypse. I had a beautiful daughter, Serenity and I had a boyfriend that I loved very much." Arcadia had tears in her eyes and the tone of her voice told 10K that something bad had happened to all of them. 10K stood up, forgetting the gas in the car they were at.

"What happened to them Arcadia?"

"Ivony, Eclipse and I were out finding baby food for Serenity. When we got back, everyone was chained up in the front yard. The gates and fences were broken down and the house was on fire. Everyone was dead and turned. The three of us had to give all of them mercy. I had to give my own daughter mercy." Arcadia finished the sentence as tears began to stream down her face. She collapsed to the ground, so 10K got down on the ground with her and held her.

"Arcadia…" 10K whispered. He wasn't good with girls and he wasn't sure what to do or say to make things better. Arcadia held onto 10K's shirt and buried her face in his chest as she cried.

"The locket has a picture of Serenity and the guy I was in love with. The other pictures are of my family and life before the entire world went to hell. They are all I have left of them." Arcadia continued as she cried into 10K's chest.

"I am sorry… I hope the people who did that die horribly." 10K muttered. He wasn't sure why, but the story made him furious and watching Arcadia cry was making his heart hurt.

"They did." Arcadia choked out. She looked up at 10K sadly. Their faces were inches apart.

"How do you know that?" 10K was confused.

"Eclipse, Ivony and I hunted them down…and killed them." Arcadia looked down, not sure how he'd react to hearing that.

"Good, they deserved that." Arcadia looked back up at 10K shocked. She was shocked that he was doing this much talking, and that he had just said that. He smiled at her, letting her know that he wasn't angry with that or anything. Arcadia smiled sadly back. The two stared into each other's eyes for a minute. As they did, they felt themselves leaning towards each other. Just as their lips brushed against each other, Murphy yelled from the car.

"They're coming back!" Murphy yelled to the two teens. Instantly both stood up. Arcadia wiped her tears and grabbed her gun before heading back to the truck. 10K gathered the still empty gas can and the tube from inside the gas tank. He then made his way to the truck as well. Warren, Addy and Doc were running out of the mall. They all looked upset over whatever had went on in the mall. Arcadia noticed that it was only the three of them. Eclipse, Ivony and Mack weren't there anymore.

"Where's Eclipse and Ivony?" Arcadia questioned Warren, Addy and Doc.

"Where's Mack?" 10K questioned, now at Arcadia's side putting the gas can and tube back into the truck. Warren shook her head and made her way to the driver side of the car.

"Get in the truck! We have to go!" Warren yelled to everyone. A hoard of Zs was coming out of the mall. A few of them were bloody like they ate two people.

"Where's Eclipse and Ivony?" Arcadia asked more frantically. Doc and Addy got into the back of the truck and Warren got into the driver seat.

"Get in the truck!" Warren yelled. 10K pulled Arcadia into the truck and tapped the side to let Warren know she can drive the truck now. Warren quickly drove them out of the area, hitting a few Zs along the way.

"Where the hell is Eclipse?!" Arcadia snapped at Doc, now close to crying again. Doc explained what happened to Ivony and Addy tearfully explained what happened to Eclipse and what happened to Mack.

"I'm sorry Arcadia." Doc finished, sadly.

"No…" Arcadia began to cry once again. 10K held her as she cried again as well. Her face was against his chest and his arms were around her tightly. "They were all I had left. What am I supposed to do without Eclipse now?" Arcadia asked 10K with her face still against his chest. Her words were a bit muffled, but he still understood her. Before he could respond though, Addy spoke up.

"How can you only care about Eclipse's death? What about Ivony?" Addy questioned the crying teen.

"That bitch caused the death of one of my friends. She got what she deserved!" Arcadia snapped back. Addy was going to comment, but Doc put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"I'm so sorry Arcadia." 10K told the girl in his arms.

"They were all I had left, and now they are dead!" Arcadia cried.

"You have us Arcadia. You have me." 10K whispered as he leaned his head against Arcadia's head. She clung to 10K as she cried. Eventually, Arcadia told 10K that she was sorry about the loss of Mack. The two teens both had finally realized what their feelings for each other were, but it had been found out at a very bad time.


	7. New Girl

New Girl

After a few days of driving, the truck ran out of gas. They were in a small town. It didn't look like it was touched too much, so the six of them decided to walk around the town. There was a restaurant that looked safe, so the group walked in. once they were in there, they saw a few Zs at the freezer. They were making their zombie noises and were trying to get into the freezer.

"Let's check that out." Doc told Arcadia and 10K. The three walked over and began to end the Zs.

"1,984…" 10K counted as he stabbed one Z in the dead. Arcadia and Doc then killed one each. "1,985." 10K said as he killed another Z. "1,986." 10K said finally as he killed the last Z.

"What if whatever is in there wants to kill us?" Arcadia questioned.

"We'll kill it first." 10K responded, getting ready to stab something if needed.

"You ready?" Doc asked, getting ready to open the door.

"Yeah." Arcadia was holding her pink handled katana sword. She had run out of bullets for her rifle, so she had been using the sword for a day or so.

"Alright." Doc opened the door, 10K shinned his flashlight into the freezer. The freezer was about three feet wide and went about four feet from the door. There was a girl against the back wall. She had her knees up against her chest. Her head was down hiding her face on her knees, so her face wasn't able to be seen. Doc, 10K and Arcadia weren't sure if she was alive or dead since they also couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"Is she dead?" Arcadia asked. 10K began to walk in. when he was a foot away from her, she sprung to life. She grabbed 10K and shoved him against the wall to her right and put a knife to his throat. Arcadia instantly took a step forward, pulled out a blue handled .22 revolver and put it to the girl's head. "I suggest you put the knife down, and get away from him." Arcadia threatened. Since 10K still had a hold of his flashlight, the girl could see the serious look on Arcadia's face and the loaded gun in her head pointed at her head.

"Okay." The girl said as she stepped back and brought her arm back down to her side with the knife. Arcadia hesitantly put the revolver back in the holster on the back of her pants. 10K and Doc had no idea she even had little guns like that, since she never used them. Plus her jacket had kept it covered up all of the time.

"Damn Arc, you act fast." Doc said, laughing.

"What were you doing in here?" Arcadia questioned, but then walked out of the freezer when she realized that she was in there. She didn't like closed in and tight spaces. The girl followed her out, and then 10K came out of the freezer.

"It was the safest place I could find." The girl responded.

"What's your name?" 10K asked, clearly interested in the girl.

"Cassandra." The girl replied, looking over at 10K. "Who are all of you?"

"I'm Doc, the kid you almost killed is 10K, and the girl who almost shot you is Arcadia." Doc told the girl. The four of them joined Warren, Addy and Murphy. Doc then told Cassandra their names. She introduced herself to them and told them why she was in the freezer.

"Well you can come with us if you have nowhere else to go." Warren told Cassandra.

"Thank you. I'd like that very much." She responded.

"Now that's settled, can you people go and find some gas so we don't have to just sit here and die?" Murphy complained.

"Sure thing Murphy." Warren replied, glaring at the man. "10K, you go get the gas can and the tube."

"Okay." 10K replied.

"I'll go with you." Arcadia said as Cassandra said "Can I come with you?" 10K completely ignored Arcadia and looked right at Cassandra.

"Sure." With that, the two of them left, without Arcadia. She stood there, hurt and confused.

"Arcadia stay here with Murphy while we are looking for gas." Warren told the confused girl.

"Fine…" She responded, a little upset over that. The rest of the group left Murphy and Arcadia in the restaurant, alone.

"Ouch, lover boy seems to have found a new interest." Murphy said, as he went behind the counter. He sounded very rude and was laughing about it.

"Shut it Murphy!" Arcadia snapped turning to the 'savoir of humanity'. He laughed and found a bottle of alcohol.

"I'm just saying what I see sweetheart." Murphy took a drink. Arcadia glared and stormed over to Murphy, with the sword ready to hurt him. "I'm the savoir of humanity; you can't do anything against me."

"We have to get you to California alive. That doesn't mean you need to be in one piece!" Arcadia growled. Murphy took another drink and smiled at her.

"I like you kid." Murphy then walked over to a chair and sat down. Arcadia soon followed but before she sat down, she grabbed the bottle of alcohol from him. She noticed that it was whiskey. She sat down on the other side of the table across from Murphy and then drank some. She then gave it back to the man. He looked at her like she was crazy.

"What? It's the damn apocalypse. I can do whatever I want. And at this moment in time, I want to drink. Got a problem with that?" Arcadia and Murphy spent the rest of their time waiting, talking to each other and drinking. When the rest of the group came back, Cassandra and 10K were talking and walking by each other. He had a smile on his face and she looked just as happy as he did. It made Arcadia angry and jealous.

"They are still together." Murphy commented to Arcadia. She glared and then turned to Murphy.

"Maybe you're right…" she mumbled.

"Alright, let's get back on the road." Warren told everyone. She then looked at Murphy and Arcadia. "Are you two drunk?"

"No?" Arcadia responded, like it was a question.

"No." Murphy replied, more sure than she was.

"Whatever just get in the truck." Warren shook her head. Murphy and Arcadia walked out and went to the truck together. Arcadia ignored the questioning look from 10K. Warren got in the driver seat, Doc got in the passenger seat, Murphy got in behind Doc and Arcadia got in behind Warren. Addy, Cassandra, and 10K got in the back.

"Arc, what aren't you back here?" 10K questioned, but was ignored by Arcadia. Arcadia just looked out the window, pretending 10K said nothing to her. The rest of the ride was in silence. Addy, 10K, Warren and Doc all wondered why Arcadia was acting so different towards 10K. 10K knew one thing for sure; he did not like her ignoring him. It made him feel a pain he wasn't used to, and honestly didn't even know, what it was.


	8. Problems and Solutions

Problems and Solutions

After a few hours of driving, it was starting to get dark. Warren decided to pull the truck off the road. The area around was fields with a few trees here and there. The area where the truck was parked was near a tree at the edge of one of the fields. You could see everything, alive or zombie for at least a mile.

"We're staying here for the night." Warren told everyone. Everyone began to get out of the truck and set up camp. 10K and Cassandra were still near each other, and when Arcadia saw it, she grabbed one of her swords and headed off towards a group of Zs.

"Where are you going?" Doc questioned, a little concerned for the sword wielding girl.

"I need to kill something." Arcadia said back to him. The small group of Zs was a little ways away from the tree, and 10K was most likely going to take care of them, but it seems like Arcadia was going to now. The anger in her voice was obvious, and since no one has seen this type of behavior from her before, everyone watched. Arcadia walked right up to the Zs and began to attack them. She swung her sword, cutting one of the Z's heads in half. She then swung again and cut the head off another before stabbing its head. She then cut another two off before cutting them in half as well. The final one was so close that she couldn't use her sword. She pulled out her revolver and held it by the barrel. She used the handle to beat the skull in instead of shooting it. When she was done, she was covered in blood and breathing heavily.

No one really knew what to do or say. In the time that they've known Arcadia, she's never shown that much hostility towards anything, not even when her and Ivony had fought. It was a little concerning.

"10K, go talk to her." Warren finally said to the teen. "Just be careful." 10K nodded his head and hopped out of the truck, without his rifle. He slowly walked over to Arcadia.

"Arcadia?" 10K called out, hoping she wouldn't swing around and hit him with anything.

"What do you want?" Arcadia questioned, turning around. She had anger written on her face.

"What's going on? Are you alright?"

"I don't know what you mean? I'm being the same as I always am."

"You have been ignoring me since we found Cassandra and you just brutally killed those Zs." 10K got a little closer to her.

"So what?" Arcadia put her sword back in its sheath.

"You've never done either before."

"Just go away 10K. Go talk to your new friend." Arcadia turned back to the Zs. Once was approaching that wasn't there before. She crushed its skull with her gun. 10K wasn't sure what was going on. He could tell that she was upset about something, and it made him upset too. He just wasn't sure why or what he was missing.

"Fine." 10K turned around and headed towards Warren and Doc. The two of them were setting up a little fire where some rocks were. He went to the two adults and sat near them on one of the rocks.

"How is she doing?" Warren questioned.

"I'm not sure." 10K admitted, looking down to the ground.

"What did she say kid?" Doc asked, finally getting the fire started.

"She told me to go away and go talk to my new friend." 10K explained how she sounded both hurt and angry. He told them how it made him feel, and how confused he was now.

"Kid, she's jealous that you gave Cassandra attention, and not her."

"Why?" 10K looked at Doc. He was even more confused now. The clueless look that was on his face made Warren and Doc chuckle. They knew he was a bit clueless when it came to girls and feelings, but they had no idea that it was this bad.

"Go think about it kid." When 10K started to get up, he looked up and watched Arcadia go over to where Murphy was. It made him feel something that he didn't like. He instantly sat back down and explained what he just felt when he saw that.

"That's called jealously 10K. That's what she's feeling too." Warren explained to the confused and jealous boy.

"How do I get rid of the feeling?" 10K's question made Warren and Doc to chuckle again.

"You fix things with Arcadia tomorrow." Warren told 10K.

"Why tomorrow?"

"It's time for everyone to get to sleep." Warren didn't just tell 10K that, she told everyone that. Murphy stayed in his tent and had Arcadia stay nearby. Warren slept in the front seats of the truck and Doc slept in the back seats of the truck. Cassandra and Addy both slept in the back and 10K slept by the fire. He didn't sleep much though. He didn't like how close Arcadia was sleeping to Murphy.

The next morning, Arcadia and 10K woke up first. When 10K saw that she was awake, he went over to her. She was just getting up from the ground.

"Can we talk?" 10K asked Arcadia. She turned to him and opened her mouth to speak. Unfortunately, Murphy opened the tent and spoke instead.

"Buzz off kid." Murphy growled at 10K. He looked at Murphy and then looked at Arcadia, whom was now staring off towards some Zs. 10K sighed and went to go wake Warren and Doc up. He had more questions for them now. Before he could ask the questions, Doc and Warren woke up Addy and Cassandra.

"Why is Murphy making her be around him?" 10K finally got to ask Doc. He was watching Arcadia follow Murphy around, like she had nothing better to do.

"I'm not sure kid. Maybe she doesn't want to be alone so she's following him. You never know with women. They do things that can't be explained sometimes. You should just get used to it." Doc patted 10K's back before going on with his duties.

After everyone got ready and packed up, it was time to get back on the road. Everyone still sat in the same place as they did the day before. Arcadia was still ignoring 10K; well she was actually ignoring everyone, including Murphy. As they drove, the only noise was 10K shooting the occasional Z. after an hour of driving, Warren stopped the truck. In front of them was a road block. Cars and trucks were all over the road and there was no way the truck could get through.

"What are we going to do now?" Arcadia questioned.

"We are going to get out and see if there's any way around without damaging the truck." Warren told the girl. On both sides of the road there was a drop and very bumpy areas. The truck could potentially fall over and tumble down the steep hill.

"Alright then." Arcadia responded, still a little unsure.

"You and Doc should check the cars for anything useful, or for gas to fill up the gas tank the rest of the way." Warren said as she got out of the car.

"Alright." Arcadia and Doc got out of the car. Arcadia had brought out her revolver as the two made their way to the cars.

"When did you have that?" Doc questioned the girl about the revolver.

"I've always had it." Arcadia simply told the man. As the two went to the cars, Cassandra and Addy went to the right side of the road to check to see if it was safe for the truck. Warren and 10K went to the left side of the road to see if it was safe for the truck. Murphy of course just stayed in the car and complained about everything.

"I'm going to check over here, you be careful over there." Doc told Arcadia. He went to the cars on the right, and Arcadia went to the cars on the left. She and 10K met eyes for a moment, before she disappeared behind a car. It was like a maze of cars and trucks as she walked through.

As Arcadia checked a car, she heard a noise behind her. She spun around, ready to shoot, but all that was there was a large delivery truck. There wasn't a Z in sight. Shrugging to herself, she made her way to another car, at the very back of the one she was just at. There was a Z in the car, so she brought out a knife and stabbed it. Once she put the knife away, she started looking through that car. She began to hear the noise again, so she turned around once again. This time, a Z came running out from behind the delivery truck.

"Shit!" Arcadia gasped as she moved to shoot the Z. It was too fast though and it knocked her over and to the ground. She let out a scream as she hit the ground with the Z on top of her. Her gun had been knocked out of her hands, and both hands were needed to keep the Z from eating her face. "Get off of me!" Arcadia yelled as she tried to move the Z, but failed. She heard voices, and she had yelled out, but no one had arrived to help her yet. She was starting to think that she was going to die there and that they were just going to let it happen. She felt her heart start beating faster, and she had to fight hard to keep the tears from streaming out of her eyes.

"Arcadia!" It was 10K's voice. He seemed to have just found her. A moment later, the Z was shot and pulled off of Arcadia. "1,998." 10K pulled Arcadia up to her knees and got down on his own.

"10K!" Arcadia gasped. He began to check over her, to make sure she didn't have any bites on her. She had no bites though, so he hugged her. She clung to his shirt breathing heavily. She was gasping for air and close to crying. It was clear that she had been panicking. "I-I thought everyone was just going to let me die." Arcadia gasped out. 10K put his hands on both sides of her face and made Arcadia look at him.

"I'm always going to save you. I'm not going to let you get hurt or die." 10K told the still freaking out girl. She nodded her head and slowly began to calm down.

"Thank you 10K." Arcadia leaned her head against his shoulder and let him hold her.

"Tommy." 10K whispered to the girl. She looked up at him confused. "My real name is Tommy."

"That's a cute name." Arcadia giggled a bit. 10K blushed and shook his head.

"Just don't tell the others…and it isn't cute." 10K half-heartedly glared at Arcadia. She smiled and nodded her head. To the right of them, Warren, Doc, and Addy finally made their way to them and were going to speak, until they saw the scene in front of them. They gave the two a moment, before Warren spoke up.

"She's okay?" Warren questioned 10K. He smiled at Arcadia and she smiled back.

"I'm good now." Arcadia responded.

"Well, in that case, 10K I found a car with a full tank of gas. Come help me with it kid." Doc told 10K. He nodded his head and followed Doc. Arcadia got up from the ground and grabbed her gun. Warren, Addy and her made their way back to the truck. The two women went to talk to Murphy about something, so Arcadia went to the back of the truck. She had no clue that Cassandra was back there as well.

"Hello." Arcadia jumped and looked up at Cassandra. She was standing on the back of the truck, leaning against the cab of the truck.

"Hi." Arcadia said, as she got up into the back of the truck. She began to look for her bags. When she found the one she wanted, she opened it.

"10K saving you was really nice of him."

"He is a really good guy. He's something that's rare in this world." Arcadia smiled into her bag as she said that.

"He's really attractive too." Cassandra pointed out, making Arcadia freeze. She looked up at Cassandra. "Are you and him a thing?"

"Uh…" Arcadia had no clue how he even felt about her, so how would she know what they were. She also couldn't tell if Cassandra was just saying it to get her riled up, or if she was serious.

"If you aren't, mind if I see if there's anything between him and I?" Arcadia stood up and glared at Cassandra.

"Stay away from 10K." Arcadia said harshly as she glared. She didn't even want Cassandra to give 10K any ideas about anything between her and him. She didn't need a chance with her to be in his mind.

"Why?"

"He and I might have something, so don't interfere."

"Or what?"

"You don't want to find out." Arcadia smiled sweetly and grabbed her sword. She figured she'd just go back to using it. She had already put her revolver back in its holster. Cassandra was going to speak again, but 10K's voice cut through the conversation.

"Hey Arcadia? Can you come and help me with something?" 10K called from where he was next to a car.

"Sure." Arcadia got off the truck and went to 10K. She helped him with the gas and filling up the gas can. Once it was done, everyone got back into the truck and got ready to leave. Doc and Warren were in their usual seats, Murphy sat behind Warren, and Addy and Cassandra sat next to him. 10K and Arcadia were the only ones in the back of the truck.

"Stand up." 10K told Arcadia. He was standing and holding on like usual. Arcadia had just sat down.

"Um, I'll fall?" Arcadia responded. She looked up at 10K nervous, not really wanting to stand up. He just smiled at her and held out his hand.

"I won't let you fall." Arcadia nodded her head and took his hand. As the truck started, Arcadia almost fell over but 10K kept her standing. She smiled at 10K and he smiled back. She knew she should be more worried about the Zs wanting to eat her face, but she just wanted to enjoy her time with 10K. In her mind, there is no point in surviving if you can't live.


	9. Sick

Sick

A week past and the group have made their way into another state. They were now somewhere in Missouri. Unfortunately for them, after a full day of driving in the hot sun, their truck has decided to break down.

"You got to be kidding me!" Warren let out a frustrated sigh. The truck was choking, smoke was coming out of the hood and it rolled to a stop.

"The truck might be down for good this time." Doc said, shaking his head.

"Alright, everyone out of the truck!" Warren called out to everyone. Arcadia and 10K got out of the back. Both went under the truck to see if they could fix anything. Cassandra and Addy had their weapons ready in case a Z came by. Warren and Doc opened the hood and looked at everything. Murphy just stayed in the truck, like usual.

"I think the truck is dead." Arcadia said, rolling out from under it. She went to the hood to look with Warren and Doc. 10K came out from under the truck next and stood up.

"Why?" Doc questioned.

"The radiator leaked out all the fluid and I'm pretty sure the engine is overheated. Even if we taped the hole and gave the radiator all our water, the engine might have already burned up." Arcadia responded. She then looked at Doc. "Well something like that."

"How do you know that?" Warren asked, a little shocked.

"Well, my dad and I had restored and fixed my Plymouth, so I know a lot about cars." Arcadia shrugged and smiled at Warren.

"Well, the engine is overheated and she's right." Warren told the group. "We walk from here on out. Get your stuff!"

"Damn…" Arcadia grumbled. She and 10K went to the back and gathered their things. She put her bags on the dirt and stared at them. She sighed and reached for one, but was stopped by 10K.

"I'll carry the heavier one." 10K told her. She shrugged and grabbed the other one. Warren, Doc, Addy, Cassandra and Murphy collected their things and met with the two teens in front of the truck.

"We ready?" Warren asked everyone. Murphy said no, but everyone else nodded, so they began their journey. With the hot sun shining down on them, they made their way along the road. 10K and Arcadia killed Zs along the way, but it was mostly just 10K. Halfway through the day, Arcadia began coughing a little bit, and her pace slightly slowed down. She tried to hide it, but 10K noticed. When her coughing got worse, everyone else noticed as well. It was only after the group set up camp that Doc and Warren confronted the girl.

"You've been coughing for hours and you aren't looking too good Arcadia." Doc told the girl.

"You were falling behind and you're face is clearly flushed. You're sick." Warren finished for Doc. Arcadia rolled her eyes.

"Yes I'm aware of that. I get sick all of the time, and the heat just makes it worse." Arcadia responded with a little attitude. Warren gave her a look, so she instantly muttered an apology. Before anyone could speak, another cough tore through Arcadia. It was clearly painful and almost made her fall down.

"Well kid, if you don't get some medical attention to find out what's wrong, and then fix it, then you could be in some trouble." Doc told the teen. She was a bit wobbly now and looked about ready to pass out. "10K, take her to get some rest."

"Alright." 10K put an arm around Arcadia's waist and pulled her to where he had a little area set up. He helped her sit down and then sat down next to her. "Arcadia?"

"Yeah 10K?" Arcadia questioned, looking at him.

"Why have you never mentioned it before? The fact that you get sick a lot."

"I thought I had gotten over it." Arcadia shrugged. She then looked over at everyone else. Cassandra was looking at 10K and her. She didn't like the look on her face, so she got an idea.

"Now lay down 10K. You're my pillow." Arcadia pushed 10K backwards. He chuckled and let Arcadia curl up to his side. Arcadia glared at Cassandra and then laid her head down on 10k's chest. 10K did notice that, but just put an arm around her anyway before closing his eyes. In his teenage male head, he liked the idea of two women fighting over him. He wasn't sure if that was the case, he just liked the thought.

Everyone only got a few hours of rest. Around midnight, Doc spotted quite a few Zs coming and woke everyone up.

"They are slow ones. We can just out walk them." Warren said when she looked through Doc's binoculars.

"Arcadia, wake up." 10K said, shaking the sleeping girl. She slowly sat up. "I'll carry both of your bags."

"You don't have to 10K." Arcadia tried to argue, but 10K shook his head.

"Come up, we got to go!" Warren motioned for everyone to hurry up and go. Arcadia got off the ground, but almost fell down since she was so wobbly. 10K kept her standing and then grabbed her and his bags.

"Come on Arcadia." Addy walked over and helped the girl walk.

As the group walked Arcadia's cough became worse. Addy had to try harder to keep her standing. As the sun began to rise, and the air began to get hotter, Arcadia's situation began to get even worse. She had thrown up a few times.

"She's getting worse Doc." 10K told the older man. Doc sighed and nodded his head.

"I know kid, but I see signs up ahead. Maybe those will tell us something helpful." Sure enough, Doc was right. The first sign said there was a secure hospital, and another sign said it had doctors.

"You were right…" 10K said, a little shocked. His shock turned to worry when Arcadia began coughing badly. It was so bad that her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Addy couldn't keep her up, she had been drinking some water, so 10K rushed to her side.

"We need to get to that hospital." Warren said, worried about Arcadia.

"Here, drink the last of my water." 10K helped Arcadia drink it before he looked up at the others. "Let's go."

The group began to make their way to the hospital. 10K was carrying Arcadia after an hour though. She had become too weak and couldn't walk without falling over. It took until noon to get to the hospital. When they got there, the guards immediately let them in. A male nurse took them to an empty room on the third floor.

"A doctor will be right in, just set her on the bed." The man that brought them up said before leaving. 10K set the sick girl down on the bed and stepped away slightly. Arcadia was only half awake.

"Arcadia, wake up." 10K whispered to Arcadia. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes to look around. Murphy and Cassandra were in the corner of the room looking out a window and talking about something. Addy and Doc were sitting on a little couch that was there near the bed talking about something. Warren and 10K were standing on opposite sides of the bed, 10K on Arcadia's right and Warren on her left.

"Where am I?" she asked, obviously confused.

"A hospital. A doctor will be in to see you soon." Warren told the girl. Arcadia nodded, trying to understand. When a doctor walked in, everyone looked at the door to see a man in a dirty white doctor's coat.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Brown. Someone in here is sick?" The doctor questioned.

"Yeah, she is." Warren motioned to Arcadia and watched the man carefully as he walked over to the bed.

"May I take a look at her?" Warren went to the other side of the bed with 10K to watch over it all. The doctor asked Arcadia questions and she explained her symptoms. It took a few minutes but he finally stepped away and looked to Warren and 10K.

"She has a type of heatstroke. It seems like she also has the start of the flu. She will need rest and anti-biotics for a few days." The doctor explained to the two. "She and all of you are welcome to stay until she is better. I will be back later to give her medication." The doctor then left the room.

"No! We have a mission to get to! We don't have time to deal with her!" Murphy snapped. He clearly just wanted to leave Arcadia. Before anyone could yell at him, or tell him to shut up, Arcadia spoke.

"He's right. Just leave me behind." Arcadia began to cough.

"We aren't leaving you." Warren told the sick girl.

"Yes you are." Arcadia told everyone. "I'll be fine alone."

"You won't be alone." 10K spoke up quickly. Everyone turned to look at him.

"What?" Warren questioned.

"You guys go ahead. I'm staying with Arcadia. We can catch up later." Warren opened her mouth to speak, but 10K continued. "We'll be together, so we'll be fine."

"That's quite a lot of talking 10K. Are you sure you want this?" Addy asked. 10K nodded his head and looked at Arcadia. She smiled up at him, thankful for what he decided. He couldn't help but smile back. Warren sighed, knowing the two teens were staying and were sticking together. She pulled out her map and began to tell 10k and Arcadia about the route they will take.

"If the route changes, we'll leave a sign saying so." Warren finished saying. Addy and Doc had gotten 10K and Arcadia's bags and had them in the room by the time Warren was finished talking.

"We need to get going now." Murphy grumbled. Warren hugged Arcadia and told her she hopes she gets better. She then hugged 10K and told him to take care of himself and Arcadia. Doc hugged Arcadia and told her to get better soon. He then hugged 10K and wished him luck with everyone. Addy then hugged Arcadia and told her to keep fighting. She then hugged 10K and told him to watch over Arcadia. Cassandra simply told them goodbye and Murphy just waved to them.

"I hope we will see you two again." Were Warren's last words before the five of them left the room.

"I hope so too." Arcadia mumbled to herself, worried about her health.


	10. Together

Together

Arcadia and 10K were silent for a few minutes after their group left.

"We're alone…" Arcadia pointed out, even thought it was obvious.

"No. We're together." 10K corrected her. She turned to 10K and smiled. He looked at her and watched her smile fade. "What's wrong?"

"You should have gone with them. Why'd you stay Tommy?" Arcadia was clearly confused and a little upset. 10K didn't respond right away. He was thinking over his answer.

"I'm where I belong." 10K finally said with a small smile on his face. Arcadia giggled and shook her head.

"Why?" Now 10K seemed nervous. He wanted to admit something but his lack of experience with girls made it heard. He wasn't sure how to come out and tell Arcadia how he felt.

"I…um…" 10K looked down to the floor. Arcadia smiled and grabbed 10K's left hand with her right hand.

"I like you too Tommy."

"Good. I wasn't sure how to say that." 10K was adorable when he was nervous. It made Arcadia smile brightly at him. "What do I do now?" 10K whispered but mostly to himself.

"Kiss me."

"What?" 10K wasn't sure he heard right.

"You should kiss me now." 10K quickly nodded his head and leaned down. Arcadia leaned up as much as she could. The two teens' lips met in their first kiss together. To deepen the kiss, Arcadia brought her hands up to his neck. She pulled him closer to her. To keep himself from falling, 10K put his hands on the bed. Their kiss turned into making out, but after a few minutes, they both needed air, so they pulled back.

"Whoa…" 10K mumbled breathlessly. That was the first kiss he ever had.

"I agree." Arcadia said, just as breathless. The two smiled at each other. Arcadia then began to yawn, which caused 10K to yawn as well.

"You should get some rest."

"Only if you rest with me." 10K nodded his head and turned to get a chair. He was stopped though. Arcadia had grabbed his arm. "Rest, in bed, with me."

"In bed with you?" 10K questioned, a little unsure of it.

"Just get your butt in bed and let me use you as a pillow again." Arcadia giggled and oved so 10K could get in. 10K laid on his back with Arcadia's head against his chest. His left arm held her tight to his body and her right arm was around his waist. As the two began to fall asleep, sickness and the zombies outside were far from both their minds.

After a few hours of sleep, Dr. Brown came back in and woke the two teens up. At first, both teens were confused and almost forgot where they were. The doctor just smiled and waited for the two of them to fully wake up.

"These are the medication you will be on for the next few days." Dr. Brown said, as he handed a little cup of two pills to Arcadia. He also handed her a cup of water. Arcadia swallowed the pulls and the water, and then listened as the doctor began to talk again. "On the second floor, there are the physically injured patients and the first floor had the food and water. Every floor has bathrooms and if you need any help, there are people on every floor to help you with anything."

"You mentioned three floors, but there are four." Arcadia said, once the doctor was done talking.

"The fourth floor is not clear. Zombies are up there. Too many to take care of."

"It's safe to be below them, right?"

"It is safe. The doors are chained and blocked. Do not go near the locks, and do not use the elevator to go to the fourth floor."

"Alright…" Arcadia clearly seemed a little nervous about it.

"A guard will escort everyone up and down the stairs. You are safe here, don't worry." The doctor smiled and left the room. Arcadia began to cough slightly, but then smiled at 10K.

"What's the smile about?" 10K asked, a little confused.

"There is food here. We can eat food."

"You want to go and eat? Are you sure your stomach can handle food?" 10K was clearly worried, since for the past week, Arcadia could hardly keep anything down.

"Well, let's go find out." Arcadia hopped out of the hospital bed. She wobbled a bit, but 10K got down next to her and kept her on her feet.

"Let's go slowly." 10K said making sure that Arcadia didn't fall. She seemed a bit better now that she got some sleep and water. The two walked down the hall to the stairs. There was a guard there that took them to the first floor. Once they were there, they were told where the food was. The two teens ate a decent meal, and then went to find the bathrooms. The whole hospital so far was so clean and clear of Zs. It was pretty shocking to the two teens.

"Let's check out the second floor now." Arcadia suggested. She was feeling food now that she had eaten something, and kept the food down.

"Alright." 10K and Arcadia went to the stairs and walked to the second floor. The guard of course came with them. As they walked, Arcadia decided to ask 10K something.

"Are you upset that there isn't anything to kill here?"

"Yeah, but it's…" 10K couldn't think of the right word to say.

"It's nice to get a break from the death and destruction." Arcadia said as the guard opened the door to the second floor. She coughed a bit again, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was. 10K nodded his head in agreement as he closed the door behind him. "I hope nothing bad happens to ruin it."

"I agree." The two began to walk down the hall, but started to hear someone laugh. The laugh caused Arcadia to stop walking suddenly. So suddenly, that 10K nearly walked right into her. "What's wrong Arcadia?"

"That laugh…it is Eclipse's laugh." Arcadia grabbed 10K's hand and began to pull him. As the laughing continued, the two teens followed the sound. They walked to the other end of the hall, and stopped at a door. It was cracked open a little bit, so the two were able to look through it. They first were able to see a creepy guy standing next to the bed. He looks a few inches taller than 10K, has straight black hair down to his shoulders, and is wearing all black. His eyes are hidden by his long bangs that come down to his nose.

"He doesn't look friendly." 10K pointed out in a quiet voice. Arcadia nodded her head and moved so she could see the hospital bed. A girl with fading pink hair was on the bed. Arcadia was right, it was Eclipse. She had her right ankle wrapped in a cast. Other than that, she looked completely fine. She was laughing and talking to the creepy guy. "Should we go in?"

"Yeah." Arcadia stood up normally and so did 10K. She then knocked and waited for an answer.

"Come in!" Eclipse called from the hospital bed. 10K pushed the door open the rest of the way and walked in behind Arcadia. Eclipse gasped and sat up more. "Arcadia! 10K!" she smiled brightly, obviously happy and on painkillers.

"How are you alive?" Arcadia said, as she hesitantly walked over to Eclipse. Arcadia was still holding 10K's hand, even tighter now though. "I thought you were dead."

"Well, I'm not dead." Eclipse said simply.

"How?" 10K questioned, just as confused as Arcadia.

"After Addy left, I crawled into the gun shop and closed the door. I had shot a few Zs that managed to get in there and then I just sat there. I tried to stop the bleeding in my ankle, but there was just so much blood pouring out of the gunshot wound. I lost a lot of blood, and I eventually passed out. When I woke up, I was outside in the back of a truck with Rellic at my ankle. He managed to stop the bleeding and make it a little better. He and I have been together since. He has helped me and kept me alive. He brought me here and had the doctor fix my ankle."

"Rellic?" 10K questioned, watching the creepy guy.

"He saved my life. He doesn't speak much, but he's great at killing Zs and he's a really good guy."

"It's good you found someone, and I'm so glad you are alive." Arcadia said, smiling. She could tell that Rellic and Eclipse were in a relationship of sorts.

"Is it just you and 10K? Where's Ivony and everyone else?"

"Ivony died in the mall." Arcadia told her friend. She still wasn't sad at all about it, but Eclipse was. "And everyone else has gone ahead of us."

"Why?" Arcadia explained how she got sick and was in the building getting treated. "So, are you and 10K…?"

"Are we what?" Eclipse looked down at the two teen's hands and raised her eyebrows. Arcadia and 10K looked at each other. They both shrugged.

"It's the apocalypse. Why try to label anything. We like each other and we are together right now. That's all that matters."

"I agree." 10K said, agreeing with Arcadia. Eclipse nodded her head and smirked.

"So, you two have sex yet?" Eclipse asked, and then began laughing at the two shocked and embarrassed looks on her friends' faces. They both shook their heads. They were so not prepared for such a personal question like that.


	11. Fourth Floor

Fourth Floor

A few days went by and a few new things happened during those days. Arcadia had started to get better, but she still had a mild cough. Eclipse had crutches so now she could walk around, as long as Rellic was there with her. She was even able to walk to the third floor.

10K and Arcadia were getting closer. They discussed their pasts and their lives before the apocalypse. They spent all their time together. Sometimes they were with Eclipse and Rellic and sometimes they weren't, but the two were inseparable nonetheless.

There was one more new thing that happened. A girl arrived a day after 10K and Arcadia. Vanessa, the new girl, was around Eclipse and Arcadia's age. She was sick, but mentally sick. The zombie apocalypse had really messed her up. She was so messed up that she tried to kiss 10K. She had pinned him against a wall and tried to kiss him against his will. He'd never hit a girl to stop her, but Arcadia sure would, and she did as soon as she saw what Vanessa was trying to do.

It's now the morning of the fourth day of Arcadia and 10K being at the hospital. 10K was lying in the hospital bed next to Arcadia, whom was just starting to wake up. She yawned, stretched and looked up at 10K.

"How'd you sleep?" 10K asked Arcadia. She smiled, making 10K smile back.

"I slept great, what about you Tommy?" Arcadia loved to call 10K by his real name, and it seemed like 10K loved it too.

"I always sleep well with you in my arms." 10K kissed at Arcadia's face and neck. She giggled and blushed.

"That tickles, stop it." She giggled and rolled onto 10K and pressed her lips to his. It was a quick and simple kiss. 10K smiled up at Arcadia. She smiled back. The two teens have never felt like this before. Both knew they loved each other, but neither would say it for some reason. Well, the reason was actually quite simple. They didn't want to get too attached and then lose the other.

"We should get to the first floor. Eclipse will send Rellic to get us if we're too late."

"Yeah, I know." Arcadia got off of 10K. The two liked Rellic and were friends with him, but when he was without Eclipse, he just seemed creepy and scary. So the two teens got dressed and began to make their way to the cafeteria. Like usual, they left their weapons in their room. Also like usual, the four teens met up in the cafeteria. Eclipse and Rellic were already at the table.

"Hey guys! How's everything today!" Eclipse asked when 10K and Arcadia sat at the table.

"I'm fine. I have a bad feeling about something, but other than that, I'm fine." Arcadia replied. "What about you?"

"My ankle is getting better. I was able to walk down here without Rellic helping me as much."

"That's good."

The four then began to eat their food, and talk about things. Even 10K and Rellic were talking. The two guys had begun to be friends, in a way, since their two girls pretty much forced the issue. After an hour, the four were done eating and were cleaning up their area.

"Has anyone seen Vanessa today?" one of the guards suddenly asked the four teens. They had noticed him asking around, and he finally got to them. Vanessa was usually with the four, or at least bothering them.

"No, we haven't seen her since last night." Eclipse answered for the little group.

"Why?" Arcadia questioned, a little concerned.

"A pair of bolt cutters were stolen and Vanessa had been asking about the locks on the fourth floor. We think she might try to release the Zs." The guard explained, and then left to question others.

"That isn't good." Both girls said to each other.

"Maybe we should go look for her?" Rellic suggested, a little concerned as well.

"Yeah, let's go."

The four teens got up and left the room. They searched the first floor and then the second, but no one saw Vanessa or heard from her. It was starting to worry the four teens. They had heard Vanessa talking about how she wanted to know how it felt to release the Zs and kill everyone. She wouldn't really do that though, right?

It was around noon when the four made it to the third floor. 10K and Arcadia had been holding hands the entire time. Eclipse and Rellic would have been as well if she didn't need two hands to use her crutches. No one really walked; only to the other people to question them.

"What the hell?! Where'd that crazy bitch go?" Arcadia snapped after they searched the third floor. They were now in 10K and Arcadia's room.

"You don't really think she'd go to the fourth floor, right?" Eclipse questioned.

"It's the only place we haven't looked." Rellic answered.

"Let's bring the guns, just in case." 10K suggested as they all stood up. He clearly had the same bad feeling that Arcadia had felt.

"Yeah." Arcadia grabbed her rifle, but also her locket. Eclipse gave her a questioning look. "I'll just feel better with it on me. I still have that bad feeling." Arcadia put her locket on as 10K grabbed his rifle.

"Let's get going!" Eclipse said, as if they were going on an adventure. The four walked to the stairs and told a guard about what they thought. He agreed to take them to the door to the fourth floor. Once they reached it, they saw Vanessa standing there. It seemed like she was waiting for them.

"Vanessa step away from the door!" The guard warned. He had out his gun, but the safety was on, so he couldn't shoot her even if he wanted to. 10K and Arcadia pointed their rifles at Vanessa, but she didn't look too worried about it.

"No." Vanessa spun around and cut the lock before anyone could shoot her to stop it. She threw open the door and unleashed the Zs. They attacked her first and then began to make it down the staircase.

"Run!" the guard yelled. Rellic picked Eclipse up and began to run down the stairs with 10K and Arcadia right with him. The guard went into the third floor to warn everyone there, but Zs were right in there after him. The four teens went to the first floor and warned everyone. They closed the door to the stairs, in hopes it would hold the Zs off for a few minutes. People began to panic and run for the exit and it only got worse when the Zs broke down the door and began to flow in. The second floor got no warning when the Zs got to them.

Rellic put Eclipse back on the floor so he could shoot the Zs. Arcadia and 10K was also shooting. Arcadia was at Eclipse's side, protecting her with Rellic. The four were trying to make their way to the exit, but everyone was pushing and shoving. As the people rushed by, Eclipse's right crutch got knocked away from her, causing her to fall to the ground. Arcadia put her gun over her shoulder and helped Eclipse back up. The crutches were lost in the herd of people.

"Go! You and 10K save yourselves!" Eclipse yelled at Arcadia.

"No! I lost you once, I'm not losing you again!" Arcadia yelled back. She held onto Eclipse and looked around for a place to take her. With all of the people, she wouldn't be able to get out with Eclipse.

"We have to go Arcadia!" 10K called to the girl. She shook her head as 10K shot another Z. "2,033."

"Just go 10K! Save yourself! I'm staying with Eclipse and Rellic."

"You'll die if you stay!"

"I'll happily die with my best friend. Dammit Tommy, just go away!" Arcadia and Eclipse hurried off. 10K froze, not sure what to do.

"Go 10K, I'll protect her." Rellic reassured the teen. Rellic then disappeared after the girls. With all of the Zs and people, 10K quickly lost sight of the three, so he went to the exit. He was able to push through the people and escape.

Rellic took over helping Eclipse so Arcadia could shoot Zs. The three went into a supply closet and locked the door. It might not have been the most safe place, but it was safer than out there. They hid at the back, still able to see the door though. They didn't speak and they tried to breathe as quietly as possible. After a minute, Arcadia slid down the wall and hid her face in her hands. She was upset that she was so harsh with 10K. She was also very worried about him.

As the three waited, a Z began to slam itself into the door. The noise ended up attracting more Zs. Arcadia stood up and pointed her gun at the door, even though it would do nothing. The Zs began to be more forceful with throwing themselves at the door.

"Dammit…" Eclipse gasped as the wood door began to splinter and the hinges began to shake. It was clear that the Zs were about to break down the door, when a bloody and skinless arm busted through it. It caused the two girls to scream, and Rellic to get ready to protect them. None of them honestly knew what to do though.


	12. Escape

Escape

"What do we do?" Arcadia questioned, staring at the arm through the door. Rellic pulled out a flashlight and looked around.

"The racks, they will hold them off. Help me move them." Rellic told Arcadia. He set Eclipse against the wall, and gave her his flashlight. Arcadia and Rellic moved two big racks in front of the door. They were pretty heavy, so it was a bit difficult. They hoped it'd be difficult for the Zs as well.

"What now though? They aren't going away. We need to get out of here." Eclipse told the two other teens. The three looked around, ignoring the Zs outside the door. They didn't find any other door out to the hallway. Plus the halls were probably filled with Zs, since the screams of everyone had stopped and now was replaced with the groans and other noises of the dead/Zs. After a few moments of trying to find a way out, they were starting to panic.

"Wait, Rellic, open that vent up there." Arcadia told the tall man. She had seen the air vent in the ceiling and was shining her own flashlight up there. Rellic looked up, and since he was tall, he was able to open it easily. Thankfully it seemed big enough for people to get through.

"Where does it lead to?" Eclipse questioned, looking up at it. Once she asked, one of the racks tipped over. It nearly hit the three but they were able to move out of the way. Eclipse shinned Rellic's flashlight to the door. It seemed the door had broken more and a Z was trying to push through.

"Who cares? There isn't a Z up there!" Arcadia told her friend. Rellic and Arcadia helped get Eclipse up into the air ducts. They then gave her the guns. Next was Arcadia. Rellic was able to get her up to the opening, and Eclipse and herself were able to get her into the air ducts. Rellic was last. Just as he got ready to get up to the opening, the second rack fell and Zs fell in. both girls grabbed his arms and helped him up. Rellic kicked a Z in the head as he got into the air ducts with the girls.

"That was close." Eclipse told her lover. Rellic nodded.

"Too close." He agreed.

"Let's go…" Arcadia got her gun from Eclipse and crawled with it. Eclipse and Rellic followed. No one knew where they were going, but they were safe. That was all they cared about at the moment.

The three crawled and crawled. They went left and they went right. They just kept going in the darkness since it was too difficult to carry a flashlight as they crawled. They weren't sure how long they had crawled, but they turned right one last time, and were able to see light coming in from the end of the air duct. The three made their way to it, and Arcadia pushed the vent open. They were facing the alley on the right side of the hospital. It was only a few feet down and thankfully there was a closed dumpster there so it wasn't very far down at all.

"Make sure a Z doesn't get me." Arcadia told Eclipse and Rellic. She was going down first. She turned around so she could go down feet first, and then she dropped. She landed on the dumpster with a loud thud. A few Zs were interested, but didn't go over to the girl. "Eclipse, you next. I'll catch you… I think."

"Don't drop me Arc!" Eclipse snapped. Her friend laughed and opened her arms to catch her. Rellic helped Eclipse turn around and drop out of the vent safely. Arcadia caught her friend, but lost her balance and fell on her butt on the dumpster. The two girls almost fell off and hit the ground, but they were able to stop themselves from falling that far.

"You two okay?" Rellic asked the two girls. His answer was the two girls laughing and nodding their heads. "Good." Rellic smiled a bit, and then passed his guns down to the girls. He was able to get down easily because of his height. He didn't even really need to drop down at all.

"Do you guys smell that?" Arcadia questioned, sniffing the air once all three of them were safe and on the dumpster.

"That's…smoke?" Eclipse replied. The three got off the dumpster and looked up at the hospital. Smoke and fire were clearly coming out of the windows on the second floor, right above where they were crawling moments ago.

"That explains why it was so hot in there." Arcadia commented.

"How do fires always start when the apocalypse is going on? There wasn't anything flammable on that floor." Eclipse questioned.

"Magic of the apocalypse?" Arcadia offered up as an explanation. Eclipse shrugged and then sighed.

"All of our stuff…"

"All my ammo and weapons…" Arcadia commented, realizing how much she had left behind.

"Nothing we can do now. Let's see if 10K is alive." Rellic told the girls. Arcadia suddenly became very serious. She took off running towards the front of the building. There were a lot of Zs walking around, so she hid on the corner of the building.

"10K would be up somewhere high, but easy to get to and from." Arcadia told her friends when they caught up. The three stayed on the side of the building and looked around. The horrible feeling that Arcadia had in her gut was getting worse as the seconds ticked by.

"Over there!" Rellic pointed towards an ambulance. 10K's rifle was up there, knocked over.

The three made their way to the ambulance. They moved slowly and hid behind cars. The Zs paid no attention to them at all. Once the three got there, they climbed up onto it to find no 10K, but to find blood around his rifle. Arcadia gasped and went over to it. She avoided the blood as she got down and set the rifle back up. She looked to see what 10K had been watching. He had been looking at the entrance to the hospital. Either to kill Zs or to look for the three of them, Arcadia wasn't sure.

"Where is 10K?" Arcadia asked her friends. Her voiced cracked and she sat on her knees near the blood. Eclipse crawled over to her friend.

"I don't know…" Eclipse told Arcadia. Arcadia whimpered and held 10K's gun to her chest. She felt horrible.

"I told him to go away… if he would have stayed with us, he'd be here…" Arcadia mumbled. She was crying now. "If he's dead, it's my fault."

"Rellic, go try to look for him." Eclipse told her lover. She hugged her best friend, trying to comfort her. Rellic nodded his head and went off with his gun. Even he was worried. "It's 10K we are talking about Arc. He'll be okay."

"He doesn't have his rifle. Eclipse what if he's dead? I can't deal with this apocalypse without him. I love him, and I never even got to tell him that. I was so horrible to him when we separated." Arcadia was a wreck. She was bawling and Eclipse was trying to calm her down. Neither girls cared about the Zs, or paid attention to where Rellic went. Arcadia hadn't been so upset since she lost her family. It was making Eclipse be upset with her.


	13. Together Again

Together Again

As Arcadia and Eclipse stayed on top of the ambulance, Rellic began to search the area. He was trying to find any sign of 10K. Thankfully, most of the Zs were interested in the hospital, so Rellic wasn't bothered too much.

Rellic looked in cars and under them. He found no sign of 10K. He started to go back to the girls, when he saw blood on the ground. There were a few drops, and then a few feet away there were some more drops of blood.

"That's got to be 10'k blood." Rellic told himself. He began to follow the blood trail. It led him to a car with four Zs surrounding it. They seemed awfully interested in what was inside, so Rellic killed the Zs with his knife. Once the Zs were dead and pushed aside, he saw what the Zs wanted; 10K.

10K was lying in the backseat. He looked unconscious and Rellic could see that 10K had been shot in the left shoulder. Rellic opened the car door and checked to see if 10K was alive. He thankfully was still breathing, so Rellic turned towards where the girls were.

"Eclipse! Arcadia! He's over here!" Rellic yelled to the two girls. Moments later, Arcadia and Eclipse appeared. Arcadia was holding 10K's rifle as she helped Eclipse walk. He moved out of the way to show the girls where 10K was. Arcadia gasped and looked like she was going to cry.

"Is he…?" Arcadia didn't want to fully ask if 10K was dead.

"He's breathing."

"Well wake him up." Eclipse told her boyfriend. Rellic nodded his head and turned to 10K. He reached in and slapped him a few times. Arcadia glared at Rellic for being like that with 10K but she knew she had to do it. As Rellic tried to wake 10K up, Arcadia wiped her face. She didn't want 10K to see that she had been crying.

"10K, wake up dude!" Rellic said loudly as he slapped 10K pretty hard. 10K's eyes opened and he took a deep breath. He then gasped and clearly started to panic. "Whoa, 10K it's okay." Rellic pulled away from 10K and had his hands up, to show he wasn't threatening the teen. He watched 10K calm down.

"Rellic. It's you." 10K commented. He then tried to sit up, but he could only groan and drop back down.

"I'll help." Rellic carefully helped 10K sit up and move into a different position. 10K sat in the open door with his legs out of the car. Pain was written all over his face.

"So what happened to you 10K?" Eclipse asked. 10K looked up at the two girls in front of him. He could tell that Arcadia had been worried and crying. 10K didn't respond right away, he just stared at the two and thought.

"What happened?" Arcadia questioned after he didn't respond. 10K gathered his thoughts and then began to speak.

"Once I got out here, I got up onto the ambulance. I was shooting Zs and keeping an eye on the entrance. The guards were freaking out and shooting randomly. One of their bullets hit me." 10K explained slowly. The pain was causing his speech to be slightly slurred as he spoke slowly. Once he was done talking, Arcadia walked over to him and hugged him. She had leaned Eclipse against a car so she could do that. Arcadia made sure she didn't hit his wound. After a second, 10K put his arms around her, a little confused though.

"I was so scared Tommy. When we found your rifle with all that blood…I thought you were dead. I was so worried that I'd lost you forever. I am so sorry for how I was when I told you to go away. I don't want you to go away. I love you Tommy. I don't want to lose you ever. I am so happy that you are alive." Arcadia paused to breathe and try to not cry, but failed at the second part. "I am so sorry. If I had just told you to come with us then you wouldn't be hurt." Arcadia was crying by the end of her little speech. She was crying so bad that she had took a step away and fallen to her knees. When she had backed away, 10K followed her. He grunted in pain as he fell to his knees in front of her. He pulled her back to him, into another hug.

"I love you too Arcadia. You have nothing to be sorry for. I don't blame you at all. We are all alive and together. That's all that matters now."

"You're right…" Arcadia sniffled and pulled away. 10K pulled away with her, but then they went back together and began to kiss. Once their kiss ended, Arcadia stood up. She and Rellic helped 10K stand. He leaned on Arcadia for support though. "Here's your rifle." Arcadia handed 10K his rifle. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Thank you." He moved to put it around his shoulder, but it caused him so much pain. He nearly fell to the ground, and would have if Arcadia and Rellic weren't there.

"We need to patch up his wound." Eclipse told everyone.

"With what?" Rellic questioned.

"With whatever is in here." 10K pulled one of his smaller bags forward. It seemed like they all forgot that he carried those smaller bags everywhere. He had some medical supplies. Eclipse and Arcadia helped 10K back into the car, and began to deal with his wound.

"Where are we going to go?" Rellic questioned to no one in particular.

"Well, we'll go and catch up with the others." Eclipse said with a tone that tells everyone to not argue. Rellic nodded his head and waited. Once the girls were done patching up 10K, Rellic went to Eclipse. Rellic helped Eclipse walk, and Arcadia helped 10K walk. There were a few Zs, but only 10K dealt with them.

"2,053." 10K said, smiling through the pain. He shot his rifle, but it caused him a little pain.

"You're truck is still there." Eclipse commented, when she saw Rellic's truck.

"That makes things easier." Rellic responded. Rellic helped Eclipse into the passenger seat, and then helped 10K into the back of the truck. Arcadia got in with 10K and Rellic got into the driver seat. The four were then off on their quest to find the others.

"So, is this how you saw your life going?" Arcadia asked 10K. They were sitting close, and 10K had his right arm around Arcadia holding her to his body.

"In the zombie apocalypse and shot?" 10K responded, not sure what she meant. Arcadia laughed and shook her head.

"No, well in a way. Did you see yourself to be living through the apocalypse and find love during it?"

"No." 10K looked off towards the distance and thought. "You know, it is a strange way to find love, but I'm happy about it. I'm happy to be with you." 10K kissed the top of Arcadia's head and smiled into her hair.

"Apocalyptic love…who knew that was possible."


End file.
